Becoming a Neonatologist
What Does It Take?
Wait. Let's back up. What is a neonatologist? Simply put, a neonatologist is a baby doctor. Neonatology, a subspecialty of pediatrics, deals with infants, from birth usually to 30 days old. The word "neonatology" is derived from several root words:
- NEO (new)
- NATAL (birth), and
- OLOGY (the science of)
Caring for babies from birth includes some of the most medically fragile infants—those born prematurely and who are extremely small, ill, or both. If this is where your interests lie, then neonatology may be the career path for you.
Education Track ^
The normal course of study to become a neonatologist is 14 years of education after high school.
- 4 years of undergraduate
- junior year, spring semester (April) take MCAT
- senior year, summer, apply to medical schools
- 4 years of medical school
- 3rd year, spring, complete your residency MATCH packet
- 4th year, fall-winter, complete residency interviews and rank your choices
- 4th year, usually March, receive MATCH results
- 3 years of pediatric residency training
- during the 2nd year, apply for subspecialty fellowship training programs
- late in 2nd year or 1st half of 3rd year, complete fellowship interviews
- 3 years of neonatology fellowship training
What is the SMART Program? ^
The Summer Medical and Research Training Program at Baylor College of Medicine recruits 80 to 100 undergraduate students each year to participate in nine weeks of paid biomedically related research in a broad range of areas. Participation gives students invaluable research experience, the opportunity to meet, network with, and learn from graduate students, and exposure to the Texas Medical Center and the medical community in general.
To learn more about it, see the BCM SMART Program web site.
Do I Have to Major in Premed? ^
Dr. Adcock: "Premed is not the only curriculum that you can take in college; I was in chemistry. You just need to keep up with
- the premed requirements,
- when to send applications to medical schools, and
- when to take the MCAT."
What About My Grades? ^
Dr. Adcock: "Always do your personal best. But your individual grades often are not quite as important as your MCAT score or overall GPA.
Depending on the medical school you want to go to, you might need an Ivy League undergraduate degree. But typically to get a good residency and fellowship training, hard work and a good attitude, yielding good letters of recommendation and a good interview are often most important. You don't have to be top of the class to be an excellent physician."
When Should I Take the MCAT? ^
The spring semester (April) of their junior year is when most students take the MCAT. If your scores are low the first time, you can retake the exam. But try to avoid a re-do with an aggressive study plan months before taking the exam.
When Should I Apply to Medical School? ^
In the summer of your senior year apply either to a medical school or an osteopathic medicine school.
The American Medical College Application Service and the American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine are two resources for processing applications. See Helpful Links.
How Do I Choose a Medical School? ^
Dr. Adcock: “We are all biased for where we work or were trained. But I usually suggest a school that works for you in reference to location and cost, as well as other social factors that are important to you such as whether being close to family is a factor.
Most state-run schools will give a good overview. Then you can specialize with the residency. I went to a state school (Louisiana State University Medical College in New Orleans), having looked at some of the Texas schools including BCM. BCM was going to be too expensive for me. I chose LSU-New Orleans because I felt I would get plenty of patient exposure.
Once you get into medical school, concentrate on what topics interest you.
Those interests will help guide you to an area of specialization that you will enjoy most and, as a result, probably will be most successful in.”
How Much Does Medical School Cost? ^
According to the American Medical Student Association, “in 2002, the average [annual] tuition and fees at public and private US medical schools were $14,577 and $30,960.”
Add to this other expenses such as books, supplies, housing, meals, etc.
Scholarships, grants, and student loans are available and many students take advantage of them.
Should I Try to Do My Residency at My Medical School? ^
Dr Adcock: “You can but you don't have to.
You should evaluate several residency programs and rank them. A computerized program will then decide residencies for medical students across the nation (The National Resident Matching Program). Chances are good, though, that you will get into one of your top two or three choices.
And you don't have to do your residency at the same place that you want to do your neonatology fellowship; many people use these different steps to expose themselves to medicine in different settings.”
What About the Fellowship Program? ^
Dr. Adcock: “Many folks stop their training after the residency; they are eligible to take their examination to become board-certified in their area of specialization.
For those who want a sub-specialty, fellowships vary in content; neonatology is very research-based. When sizing up a fellowship program, you want to be sure about adequate patient exposure, adequate back-up (from your attending physicians), and good measures of time for research and study.
When interviewing for fellowship programs, some places will ask for a 24-hour commitment (you decide to accept or decline within 24 hours of an offer) rather than allow interviewing with other programs. If possible, try to evaluate several different programs prior to making a commitment.”
What Next? ^
Dr. Adcock: “Around the third year of your fellowship, you try to figure out what you'll do when you finish up—what you're going to do, where you're going to go. Sometimes it is the most difficult choice in your medical career.
Who will accept you? Do you want to be in private practice? Academics? A mixed environment? Private practice sometimes pays more than academics, but academic medicine offers unsurpassed variety.
Affiliating with a medical college affords opportunities that include
- teaching the next generation of doctors,
- being on the cutting edge of medical research and clinical care, and
- contributing to society as a whole, locally and globally.”
Helpful Links ^
Information on the following websites should be independently reviewed. Their inclusion here does not indicate endorsement (by BCM, the BCM Department of Pediatrics or Section of Neonatology, or BCM-affiliated hospitals and institutions) of the organization or the information provided.
